House of the week: Victorian on Louisiana Avenue

I know what you are going to say. I know! I know this house is way out of my price range...by about $150,000 but hey, at this point, almost everything is out of my price range. This is a dream house though and I just couldn't help posting about it. My blog, my rules!

Over on Louisiana Avenue, a block from Magazine Street and only six blocks from St. Charles Avenue (i.e. Mardi Gras Parade Central), is a beautifully renovated Victorian house that I really, really, really would love to own. Built in 1865, this gorgeous house has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and over 2,000 square feet of living space. It also features my favorites; original hardwood floors, 12" ceilings, exposed brick fireplace, ceiling medallions, marble in the bathrooms, brand new stainless steel appliances in the kitchen....I'm panting...out of breath....I think I might be dizzy!

The worst part? It's going for $399,000. Excuse me while I adjourn to my bedroom for a good, long cry...

Squealing in disappointment...

Lack of a vehicle and sheer laziness drove me to choose a restaurant closer to home last week and, in our indecision and indifference, John and I ended up dining at Squeal. We shuffled over to the restaurant which is literally around the corner from us on the corner of Oak and Cambronne Streets for an early dinner on Thursday. There were several other diners there already, but we were seated immediately and brought drinks while we browsed the menu.

In a daring act of bravery, we decided to try their Black Eye Pea Egg Rolls as an appetizer. It seemed a strange concept indeed, but it did sound interesting with the addition of bacon and andouille sausage. Unfortunately, all I tasted was spicy, mashed black eyed peas (where's the squeal?) and our waitress erred by serving them with blue cheese dressing instead of what the menu called their "spicy ranch dipping sauce."

Shortly afterwards, our entrees arrived. John's "DBLT" Tacos were easily the highlight of the entire meal with juicy, Chipotle-glazed duck, crispy bacon, fresh lettuce and tomatoes. Unfortunately, his tacos were supposed to be served with a Wasabi mayo that was no where to be found. 

I thought I would play it safe and get a half rack of Memphis-style pork ribs...it IS a BBQ joint after all. Though the meat was juicy and slid off the bone, it was so heavily charred on the outside and slathered in a super-spicy sauce, it was difficult to enjoy the wonderful, perfectly smoked pork underneath. 

My ribs also came with two sides and I chose the Bacon & Jalapeno Mac n' Cheese and Coleslaw. Though the mac n' cheese was tasty, it came to the table almost cold and the coleslaw was really dry. I don't know about you, but I prefer a sloppier, wetter slaw, but maybe by this point everything seemed to be in the negative. Even the Jalapeno & Cheddar hush puppies were like chewy, rubber balls.

Finally, with high hopes for an easy comeback, I ordered dessert. I started by selecting their home made chocolate brownie topped with crispy bacon, but our sever said they had run out and offered the bread pudding. The menu described it as "Moist custard based bread pudding with fresh fruit and/or cream cheese, topped with a signature, house made ice cream." What I was served didn't even come close. The bread pudding, if I can even call it that, was a thick slab of dry dough smeared with butter and topped with cinnamon ice cream (replete with large thumbprint) that my oh-so inept server told me was chocolate. I could barely finish one bite.

With much regret and heavy sighs, we walked back home let down from such an awful experience. Can't have the good without the bad, I suppose...

House of the week: Cottage on Adams Street

Every one had heard the old saying "you can't judge a book by its cover" and I think for this week's house, that saying is oh-so apropos. When I first saw the ad, I looked at the front shot of the house and thought "yucko." I mean, just look at it! It's a blocky, baby blue blob with no personality, no front porch, nada. Then I scrolled down and got a glimpse of what's inside...

This deceiving, block-like cottage features beautiful hardwood floors, wood-beamed ceilings and brand new kitchen cabinets and granite counter tops. There are two bedrooms, one bath and (if you can believe it) two stories! It's also loaded with all the appliances I'd ever need, including a washer and dryer, plus off-street parking and a good-sized back yard. To top it all off, this unbelievably cute property is located in my current neighborhood (how I love the Riverbend) and...you're not going to believe this...it's selling for $163,000!

Click this link and check out the interior shots and tell me...do you think they made it that ugly on the outside on purpose?

Elizabeth's: Worth the ride

On Saturday John and I got into our car, hungry and ready to head to Elizabeth's for brunch, when I turned the ignition only to hear a nasty grinding noise of metal against metal.  It seemed that our sickly car finally taken its last breath. What were we to do? I was determined not to let the death of our car prevent us from having a delicious brunch, so I called up United Cab.

$25 and an interesting, history lesson later (our aged cabbie was extremely knowledgeable), we arrived at Elizabeth's which is located in the Bywater on the corner of Gallier and Chartres Streets. The summer slow-down hadn't seemed to affect their business at all. The restaurant was packed and the hostess directed us upstairs to wait at the bar.  As we were about to order a cocktail, a table opened up. We ordered a couple of Pimm's Cups from our server, along with our breakfast, since we had already browsed the menu at the bar.

Our first dish came out in good time as we sipped our refreshing cocktails, an order of Biscuits & Gravy. The biscuits were perfect, crumbly and buttery, swimming in a thick pool of spicy, white gravy dotted with sausage and peppers. I would return to Elizabeth's for this dish alone.

Our entrees arrived just as we were ready to order another drink. John got the Duck Waffle with sweet potato duck hash mounded on top of a cornbread waffle. The hash was piled high and in the center was a small reservoir of pepper jelly. It was such an interesting mix of flavors -- the sweetness of the potatoes laced with rich, fatty duck and the heat from the Jalapeno pepper jelly -- it was almost too much to handle! John only managed to get halfway through it before he finally threw up his hands in defeat.

I was too busy working on my own dish to help John with his, a Pulled Pork Hash topped with two poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce. According to our server, the pulled pork was smoked there on the premises and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, it was just a bit too salty for me to do any real damage, which is actually pretty damn salty. You see, I am a fiend for salt and John often reprimands my excessive use, as does my doctor who finally convinced me to start taking blood pressure medication. Maybe Chef Peck is a salt-lover like me...

Though I think I was literally ready to burst, I had to order dessert, a highly-recommended dish from our helpful server, Ooey Gooey Cheesecake. Unlike most cheesecakes I've eaten, this dish was warmed until it resembled a bowl of...well...goo.  But it didn't detract from the sweet, buttery flavor (reminding me of toffee) that stuck to the roof of your mouth and the crumbly crust that tasted like crushed Nilla Wafers.

Although the round trip cab fare cost almost as much as our breakfast, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. Elizabeth's was definitely worth the ride.